Pasta with Creamed Summer Corn Sauce

Why aren’t you puréeing that corn? Because I want to leave some of them whole for texture. You’ve thought of everything!

There’s a new man in my life and he’s been quite easy to impress, but I do have to admit that even I was pretty floored with this dish I whipped up after seeing Melissa Clark’s summer corn recipe. We started our meal with a simple caprese salad and then paired this dish with a very dry rosé.

I didn’t want to buy any new pasta so I ended up using the squid ink pasta I already had. The corn came from the farmer’s market at Columbia University over the weekend, and I shucked and sliced off the kernels from the cobs before sautéeing with garlic and butter. I then puréed it to make a sauce-like consistency.

The creaminess of the corn was enough to make it so; there is no need for dairy here except for the butter, but feel free to shred some Parmesan cheese over it to give it more of a heft.

Ingredients:
a package of squid ink pasta
oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced (keep the whites and greens separate)
salt, pepper
chile flakes
3 large ears corn, shucked and kernels sliced off the cobs, about 2 cups
a small know of butter
basil leaves, torn
mint leaves, finely chopped
fresh lemon juice, as needed

1. Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente, drain, reserving some of pasta water, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large pan over medium heat. Sauté garlic until golden and add scallion whites. Cook until soft, about 3 minutes, and season with some salt, pepper, and chile flakes.
3. Add a splash of the pasta water and the corn kernels. Simmer until corn is heated through and almost tender, up to 5 minutes. Transfer all except a handful of corn to a food processor and purée until smooth, adding a little pasta water as needed to get a creamy but pourable texture.
4. Heat the same skillet with the corn that you didn’t purée over medium-high heat and add the puréed corn. Add butter and stir to melt. Toss in the scallion greens, basil, and mint, adding a splash of pasta water or two to keep it from getting dry. Turn off the heat and add pasta, gently tossing to coat. Serve with lemon slices.